THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

I don't know.

I pointed out months ago -- See March 6, 2004 Did Clinton Destroy Dean? -- that I am 99% sure that the Clintons derailed the Dean bandwagon when Dean was sailing toward the Democratic nomination. What I do not know is exactly HOW he did it.

When you read whitakeronline you get a lot. Bob Whitaker is a published and recognized political expert who made his living as an advisor at the top levels.

I once pointed out to you that a person like me had better not get into hard-knuckle power politics unless he knows himself and his capabilities.

You must know what you are.

You must also know what you're NOT.

I said that a person in the big leagues has to know what his mental equipment is. The reason was because I had to state, in the course of an article, that I was a brilliant man. That was a real assessment I had to make, not an idle boast. A dumb man who thinks he's smart is dead meat in a serious situation.

I ended the discussion by saying, "So I'm smart, OK?"

This cuts both ways. When things get serious, I have to know what I am. But I also have to know what I'm NOT.

I was a staffer. I was a very good staffer. But the league the Clintons play in is a different one altogether. Bill Clinton can call anybody on earth right now. He has been up there in the front office since he was elected the youngest governor in Arkansas history.

Clinton is a political genius. Not just a genius at political advising like me, but a genius at DOING. Clinton has a bunch of Bob Whitakers working for him, though I would naturally consider them inferior versions of the real Bob Whitaker. You don't survive in hardball politics if you have a weak ego.

Clinton was able to destroy Dean because Dean had many weaknesses the media had been ignoring. I don't know how he did it, but with his contacts I probably could have done it. But I could not have done it as surely or as smoothly or as secretly as he did.

Clinton has his limits. He cannot save Bush if Bush really screws up between now and election day. Clinton cannot save Bush if the minority vote Bush thinks he is going to get, and won't get, reaches critical mass this time. The Republicans are doomed by the minority vote and it is only a matter of time before they go down for the count.

Today's Democrats are doomed by the minority vote, too, but that is another story.

See May 29, 2004 -- From my New Orleans Speech: Tomorrow's Leaders Will Have to be Spokesmen for White People

All I know is that as a matter of political logic, the Clintons' main goal is to defeat Kerry in 2004. And I would be astonished if anybody caught them at it.